Thailand hosts 2018 ICC Women's World T20 Asia Qualifier

The final two places in the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier will be decided over the next week or so in Bangkok in Thailand where the Asian qualifying competition is being held with matches played between 20th and 27th November at Terdthai Cricket Ground and Asian Institute of Technology.

Hosts Thailand, who have won the last two Asian Qualifiers and taken part in two ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers, are joined by China, Hong Kong, Nepal, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates, and the six teams will play in a round-robin league with the top two teams competing in the final and the next two contesting the play-off for third and fourth places.

Regional qualifying events have already been held for East Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Americas so six teams who will be taking part in the main ICC Qualifier which will be held in Netherlands in June are already known. Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Scotland and Netherlands will join Bangladesh and Ireland who had already been awarded places, along with the top two countries from his event held in Bangkok.

The Thailand women's cricket team are playing in their first international competition since they won the gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, where they beat Indonesia in the final, and the hosts are looking to win the Asia T20 Qualifier for the third time in succession. Thailand’s captain Sornnarin Tippoch said that ‘she was very excited to have won a gold medal for cricket at the SEA Games and was so happy to win for the team and the country. It is good that the Thai people now know more about cricket.’

China have played alongside Thailand in the two previous ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier that were played in Ireland and Thailand in 2013 & 2015 respectively.

Nepal also have high hopes in this competition as they finished second behind Thailand in last year’s Asian Qualifier for the 50-over Women’s World Cup that was held in Hong Kong which also won them a place in the last Women’s Asia Cup.

Hong Kong, captained by Mariko Hill, have also enjoyed some recent success as they overcame China, Japan and South Korea to win the Women’s T20 East Asia Cup held in Hong Kong in September.

Malaysia also played in the women’s cricket competition in the Southeast Asian Games and they claimed the bronze medal ahead of Singapore.

United Arab Emirates are very excited to be given the opportunity to take part in an official ICC women’s qualifying event for the first time. Women’s cricket has been developing impressively in UAE over recent years as the girls attempt to match the standards set by their men’s team UAE women have won Gulf T20 competitions and the country recently staged a seven team women’s international competition which included Kenya and Uganda.

All the players from six Asian countries have their eyes firmly fixed on winning a place in the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier in Netherlands in June 2018 where they will have a chance of booking the trip of a lifetime to the next ICC Women’s World T20 that will be held in the Caribbean in November 2018.

Play gets underway in the first round of matches at 10.00 am on 20th November with the final and third place play-off being held at TCG on 27th November.

SQUADS:

China
Haoyue Li (C), Xiangxue Zhang, Zhongyuan Lyu, Qing Yi, Mingyue Zhu, Caiyun Zhou, Lili Han, Louwanyu Wang, Yingying Li, Ying Zhou, Fengfeng Song, Yanling Zhang, Chan Zhang, Xiaonan Liu
Coach : Ge Tao

Hong Kong
Mariko Hill (C), Ka Ying Chan, Shanzeen Shahzad, Sze Wan Natural Yip, Yasmin Daswani, Ruchita Venkatesh, Ka Man Chan, Marina Buonocore Antonia Lamplough, Sau Ha Chan, Kanwardeep Keenu Gill, Jenefer Marie Davies, Ishitaa Anoop Gidwani, Bella Bo Yee Poon, Wing Ki Lai, Hung Ying Ho
Coach : Richard Parkinson

Malaysia
Emylia Eliani Md Rahim, Winifred Anne Duraisingam, Nur Nadhirah Mohd Nasaruddin, Yusrina Yaakop, Afiqah Fatin Farhana Azman, Christina Nina Baret, Intan Jamahidayu Jaafar, Mas Elysa Yasmin Zulkifli, Arianna Natasya Benn Rakquidean, Janadiah Halim, Nur Syazwina Hanim Abdul Halim, Wan Julia Wan Mohd Rosli, Zayani Syamimi Zainuddin, Aina Najwa Abdul Rahman
Coach : Thushara Prabath Kodikara

Nepal
Rubina Chhetry Belbashi (C), Sita Rana Magar, Jyoti Pandey, Kajal Shrestha, Karuna Bhandari, Nairry Thapa, Indu Barma, Sarita Magar, Sabnam Rai, Sangita Rai, Laxmi Chaudhary, Ritu Kumari Kanoujiya, Roma Thapa, Sonu Khadka
Coach : Samson Jung Thapa Chhatri

Thailand
Sornnarin Tippoch (C), Nattaya Boochatham, Rattana Sangsoma, Ratanaporn Padunglerd, Chanida Sutthiruang, Wongpaka Liengprasert, Nattakan Chantam, Sirintra Saengsakaorat, Suleeporn Laomi, Onnicha Kamchomphu, Sainammin Saenya, Nannapat Khoncharoenkai, Naruemol Chaiwai, Arriya Yenyueak
Coach : Janak Champika Gamage

UAE
Humaira Tasmeen (C), Chaya Mughal, Esha Rohit Oza, Ishni Senavirathna Mananelage, Kavisha Kumari Nanayakkarewasan Egodage, Namita D’souza, Natasha Micheal Cherraith, Nisha Ali, Priyanjali Jain, Roofa Bangalore Nagaraj, Samiya, Shivani Shrikanth Sathe, Subha Venkataraman, Udeni Chathurika Kuruppu Arachchige Dona
Coach : Sockalingam Vairamoorthy

The matches are being played at Asian Institute of Technology & Terdthai Cricket Ground and will be live scored through ESPNcricinfo.

Fixtures

For results, live scores and information on the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier - Asia please go to: https://www.icc-cricket.com/womens-world-t20-q/womens-asia-qualifier